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What did you think about Hannah Montana twerking and straddling a wrecking ball while nude? As Miley sees it (in the Harper's Bazaar), "I was an adult when I was supposed to be a kid. So now I'm an adult and I'm acting like a kid." Unfortunately, her acting-out has already had one fatality: her engagement to Liam Hemsworth is, for the moment, over.
It's been quite a transformation from the sweet young thing who got the lead role in the Disney TV series Hannah Montana—which became one of the highest-rated series on cable and turned Miley into a 14-year-old teen idol—to her twerky gyrating on MTV's Video Music Awards and the tongue-thrusting, naked performance on her latest "Wrecking Ball" video. As Elton John recently said in The Australian: "I look at Miley Cyrus and I see a meltdown waiting to happen. And she's so young! But she's got two records in the top 20, so who is going to stop her?"
Miley was the first child star to have multiple deals in the Disney empire—all very adult enterprises. By the age of 19, she was the top earner on the Top 10 Richest Teens in Hollywood, with over $120 million in assets. She'd already made the list of the "Top 20 World's Richest Female Singers of All Time," back when she was 17.
But as many know (or are soon to learn), money isn't everything. It won't bring back a straying ex-fiancé. It won't keep your parents' marriage together. Even being a bigger celeb than your country singer dad won't provide the self-esteem needed to be a successful adult.
When Miley started her "I'm all grown up and sexy" makeover last fall, she chopped off her long brunette hair and went spiky platinum blonde. But growing up means more than changing on the outside; it means finding the balance between the major external pressures she faces to put on a good show and manage her considerable resources and the internal push to shed an old image and discover who she is now. It means dealing with the darkness inside—the fears, insecurities, jealousies, and whatever else is making her act out.
If I have any advice to offer Miley, it would be to take the time to examine her inner life, to acknowledge and root out her own dark feelings before they plunge her into further difficulties in her relationships or her career. And with such an avid following—over 44 million have watched her "Wrecking Ball" video already—instead of being a child seeking attention she could be a shining beacon of light.
Interested in exploring ways to ditch your darkness and live in the light? Check out my new book which deals with that very thing and is just hitting the street this week: Entangled in Darkness: Seeking the Light. http://www.amazon.com/Entangled-Darkness-Seeking-Deborah-King/dp/140193…
